While Golden Bug and Chat Grise are protecting Paris, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is serving as Gabriel Agreste's apprentice hoping that it will help her become the fashion designer she's always dreamed of becoming. Then she finds a beautiful blue peacock brooch and becomes an apprentice to Hawk Moth as well.
True Blue is a Miraculous Ladybug Alternate Universe Fic by TheChatatonicOne
where Marinette works with Hawk Moth as the wielder of the Peacock Miraculous. Can be read here.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: As the opening segment reveals, Gabriel Agreste is still this. Unfortunately Marinette realizes it far too late.
- Adaptational Name Change: Adrien's Ladybug transformation is called Golden Bug instead of Mister Bug.
- Because Ladybug is replaced by Golden Bug the Ladyblog is instead the Golden Blog.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
- Downplayed with Adrien and Marinette. The love square isn't in play because Marinette doesn't become Ladybug, as such Adrien and Marinette are both crushing on each other from the start; though it isn't currently as extreme for either of them as it was in canon.
- In canon Alya and Marinette were best friends. In this universe they've never even met.
- Hawkmoth and Ladybug were enemies. Bluewing is Hawkmoth's apprentice. However the Flash Forward shows they will eventually become enemies.
- Adaptational Super Power Change:
- Marinette uses the Peacock Miraculous instead of the Ladybug Miraculous.
- Adrien uses the Ladybug Miraculous instead of the Black Cat.
- Juleka uses the Black Cat Miraculous instead of the Tiger.
- Adaptational Villainy: Marinette ends up working with Hawk Moth as the Peacock Miraculous holder Bluewing. Downplayed in that she's a genuinely Well-Intentioned Extremist Anti-Villain.
- Adaptational Wimp: Adrien as Golden Bug compared to Mister Bug. According to
Word of God he is an imperfect match for the Ladybug Miraculous whereas nothing implied that in canon the few times he used it. Downplayed in that he's still a competent and successful hero. - Anti-Villain: Marinette just wants to protect Adrien and the other "magic children" and give them the families they deserve. Unfortunately Gabriel has convinced her that the heroes are a threat to them, and that the Guardian sees them as less than human.
- The Apprentice: Marinette starts as Gabriel's apprentice in fashion design, but over time becomes his apprentice in supervillainy.
- Beyond Redemption: Subverted. Despite Marinette feeling I've Come Too Far Golden Bug is willing to take her Heel–Face Turn in good faith, and is horrified when he realizes she's bleeding out.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Gabriel Agreste is a good enough manipulator that he actually manages to pull this off, at least as far as Marinette is concerned. He still shows worrying signs of being a Control Freak and Bad Boss- but since Marinette thinks she's been trusted the real story of what's going on, she attributes this behavior to concern over Adrien and Emilie's lives and frustration at his thankless efforts to do the right thing. She only becomes more determined to be a useful sidekick so Gabriel can "go back to" being a loving family man.
- The Bully: Despite Marinette no longer attending François Dupon Chloé still manages to bully Marinette. She manages to shake all of the confidence Marinette's built up as Gabriel's apprentice by telling her that the Agrestes see her as nothing but a servant. It doesn't stick for long, but Marinette is still very shaken by her cruel words.
- Closest Thing We Got: In this AU certain wielders are more suited for certain Miraculous than others and this is reflected in the color of their outfits. Adrien and Juleka are not ideal for the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous respectively, but they were the best choices available to Fu in that moment.
- Death by Adaptation: According to Gabriel at least, Zoe's father is dying because of bringing her into being with the Peacock Miraculous.
- Dramatic Irony: Marinette's reasons for working with Hawk Moth and becoming Bluewing largely fall into this:
- She wants to protect Adrien from people that would abuse his Amok. As she bitterly reflects in the opening Gabriel Agreste is exactly the kind of person who would abuse Adrien's Amok.
- She's afraid that Golden Bug might kill Adrien if he learns Adrien is a Sentibeing. As Adrien is Golden Bug, she has nothing to worry about there.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For a given definition of evil. Marinette's affection for Adrien is entirely genuine. She only started working with Hawk Moth because she thinks it will keep Adrien safe from those who would kill him or use his Amok for their own ends.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While Gabriel tricked Marinette into believing she'd poisoned herself with the Peacock Miraculous, tricking her was all he did. The pills he gave her were merely sugar pills, not poisoned to make her think she was ill. According to Word of God poisoning her would be a step to far, even for him.
- Fantastic Slur: Much like Félix in canon, Marinette finds Sentimonster insulting to use for people like Adrien. There's nothing monstrous about them.
- For Want Of A Nail: Gabriel is impressed by some of Marinette's designs and offers her an unofficial apprenticeship. Other changes ripple out from there.
- Because Marinette was studying at the Agreste Mansion, she never runs into Master Fu and as such never becomes Ladybug, instead Adrien gets the Ladybug Miraculous and Juleka gets the Black Cat Miraculous.
- According to Word of God, because Adrien didn't panic when he met Tikki, she was able to explain about purifying the Akuma which is why Ivan's Akuma was purified the first time.
- Heel–Face Turn: The opening confirms Marinette eventually makes one upon realizing that Gabriel Agreste was the very kind of person she'd been trying to protect Adrien from by becoming Bluewing in the first place.
- How We Got Here: The story begins with Marinette, in her super villain form Bluewing, bleeding out in an alleyway and determined to pass on all of the information she has on Hawk Moth to the heroes and hating herself for all of the things she's done. The rest of the story is dedicated to explaining how things turned out that way.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Marinette
- Platonic variant, at the time. Marinette supports Adrien's efforts to go to public school even though it means she'll be lonely since her unofficial apprenticeship means she'll be studying alone in the Agreste mansion.
- Her desire for Adrien to be happy is strong enough that she'll become a supervillain or sacrifice her life if it'll help her keep him safe.
- Innocently Insensitive: Marinette derides Golden Bug to Adrien when he attempts to invoke …But He Sounds Handsome, and asks why he's acting differently from "normal". Adrien was attempting to be his real self around her, but as she'd mostly interacted with him in the mansion and is extremely tired at the moment she doesn't realize this.
- I've Come Too Far: Marinette feels this way about herself by the time of the opening. As far as she's concerned her villainy was unforgivable, and she believes she's unworthy of mercy or second chances. Despite this she still attempts to become The Atoner and give critical information on Hawkmoth to the heroes.
- Love Makes You Evil: It's largely Marinette's love for Adrien that pushes her to work with Hawk Moth. Her desire for him to be happy, safe, and have a loving family are the main motivators for her supervillainy. However...
- Love Redeems: It's that same love that causes her to turn on Hawk Moth when she realizes that he's keeping Adrien from all of those things.
- Manipulative Bastard: Gabriel Agreste tricks Marinette into believing the heroes are a threat to Adrien by a mixture of half truths and lies. Then he tricks her into being dependent on him by making her believe she's poisoned herself by wearing the Peacock Miraculous.
- My God, What Have I Done?: By the time of the opening, Marinette feels this way, realizing that all of her attempts to protect Adrien and the other "magic children" ultimately did nothing but serve an evil abusive father.
- One Side of the Story: Gabriel Agreste made masterful use of this trope in his efforts to get Marinette on his side. The whole of Paris was aware of Hawkmoth as a one-dimensional monster who was exploiting innocents to turn into supervillains. However, once Marinette found out Hawkmoth's identity, Gabriel "let her into his confidence" to explain his motives- painting himself as a Well-Intentioned Extremist who only wished to protect his son's life and freedom. He claimed that he had tried to ask for help, but the "heroes" were too concerned with hoarding their power to agree, and they would actually kill the "magical children" out of Fantastic Racism if they got the chance. Meanwhile, not only did Marinette not have a way to contact Golden Bug and Chat Grise, but Gabriel had made sure to paint them as Unwitting Pawns to the Guardian who didn't know the stakes- ensuring that Gabriel's side of the story is the only one Marinette will hear for the foreseeable future.
- Pungeon Master: While Adrien was this in canon, it was mostly as Chat Noir. In this he's more likely to make puns around Marinette even out of costume.
- Unreliable Expositor: In the fifth chapter, The Brooch, Gabriel explains to Marinette about the events that led to Emilie's sickness, the Guardian, and the existence of several characters as Sentibeings. Being the Manipulative Bastard that he is, he claims that the Guardian and heroes refused to help him and would kill the Sentibeings. He also claims that the Peacock Miraculous wasn't broken when it was first used. As canon shows, most of the statements were outright lies and the parts that weren't were Metaphorically True at best.
- In the following chapter he gives her a demonstration of his Hawk Moth business, showing that people agree to be akumatized. He fails to mention that just infecting them with the Akuma already makes them Brainwashed and Crazy or that it's hard to resist an Akuma once it has already evilized you.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: This has always been one of Gabriel's main justifications, but the circumstances of this fic bring them into even sharper relief. Gabriel would go so far as to manipulate his new intern into wielding the Peacock Miraculous for his cause. At the very least, he opted not to poison Marinette to sell his story, and they agreed beforehand that Bluewing should avoid creating sentis, which would buy her more time. But using the Peacock Miraculous in any capacity will guarantee that the teenaged Marinette will eventually suffer the same fate as Emilie. The author notes that Gabriel is just that confident that his victory is both inevitable and close enough to avoid the consequences of this plan.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Unlike Gabriel, Marinette is genuinely this. She'd rather talk things out with the heroes than fight if possible and her goals are merely to protect Adrien and give him the family she feels he deserves.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Defied by Marinette. As Adrien is the first Sentibeing she meets he and his fellow "magic children" are viewed as fully human by her, the only difference being their conception.
- Invoked by Gabriel when it comes to the Guardian and the heroes. He convinces Marinette that they'd treat Adrien and those like him as if they were less than human to convince her to work with him against the heroes.
